Barentssekretariatet
Oil Transport from
the Russian part of the Barents Region
on July 1, 2003
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre
Photo by Bjørn Franzen
Crude oil loading in the Kola Bay, March, 2003. Tankers: “Usinsk” of 20,000 tons
deadweight, and “Moskva” of 100,000 tons deadweight
Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
This report is produced on request of The Barents Secretariat, Norway
Barents Secretariat
Post box 276
N-9915 Kirkenes
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.barsek.no
Abbreviations:
ASMI
MBESA
NAR
BIC
NSC
DNR
CNIIMF
NCA
- Archangelsk Specialized Marine Inspection
- Murmansk Basin Emergency and Salvage Authority
- The Nenets Autonomous Region
- Barents Information Center
- Northern Shipping Company
- Department for Nature Resources
- Central Marine Research & Design Institute (St. Petersburg)
- Norwegian Coastal Administration
Note 1: The English version of the report is direct translation of the Russian one.
Note 2: The Russian version of the report is up-dated in references towards Norwegian one.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................4
2. OIL PRODUCTION IN THE NENETS AUTONOMOUS REGION
AND ON THE CONTINENTAL SHELF .............................................................6
OIL TERMINAL ON KOLGUYEV ISLAND IN THE PECHORA SEA....................................7
PRIRAZLOMNOYE OIL DEPOSIT ............................................................................10
3. THE WHITE SEA DEVELOPMENT OF PORTS HANDLING THE OIL
TRANSPORTED BY RAILWAY AND VIA INLAND WATERWAYS ...............12
THE PORT OF VITINO IN THE KANDALAKSHA BAY, MURMANSK REGION ..................13
OIL TRANSPORTATION BY RIVER TANKERS ..........................................................15
OFFLOADING OIL FROM RIVER TANKERS IN THE ONEGA BAY ................................16
THE COMMERCIAL SEA PORT DEVELOPMENT IN SEVERODVINSK,
ARCHANGELSK REGION ......................................................................................18
OIL TERMINAL IN TALAGI, ARCHANGELSK REGION................................................18
PRIVODINO – A NEW TERMINAL IN THE SOUTH OF ARCHANGELSK REGION .............19
4. THE OFFSHORE TRANSSHIPPING TERMINAL IN THE KOLA BAY,
MURMANSK REGION.....................................................................................21
5. WESTERN SIBERIA – MURMANSK PIPELINE PROJECT ...........................23
6. OIL TRANSPORT FROM OTHER RUSSIAN TERRITORIES.........................25
OIL TRANSPORTATION IN YAMALO-NENETS AUTONOMOUS REGION .......................25
OIL TRANSPORTATION VIA THE BALTIC SEA .........................................................26
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
1.
Introduction
In the year of 2002 the amounts of oil transportation along the Norwegian coastline from
the North-West of Russia increased considerably. It could be accounted for by the general
increase of oil production in Russia and by a growing influx of oil from the Eastern regions
to transshipping terminals in the White and Barents seas. The previous sea transit volume
forecasts made by the Norwegian Coast Guards in cooperation with the Russian state
institutions were based on the prospects of oil production and oil extraction infrastructure
development in the Russian part of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region1. That is why the
Norwegian authorities were surprised by the tremendous growth of oil transportation,
which exceeded the expected transportation flows and oil production volume estimates for
the Russian part of the Barents region.
Oil transport along the Norway’s northern coastline is one of the hottest topics discussed by
the Norwegian society and it is also one of the most important issues of today’s political
agenda. This situation makes us think that the Norwegian authorities did not anticipate the
recent developments and were taken off guard in view of the increased oil exports from the
North-West of Russia. The present report provides a short overview of the existing crude
oil and oil products export volumes by sea from the Russian part of the Barents region and
outlines oil transportation infrastructure development in the region. At present
hydrocarbons are shipped mainly in the form of crude oil or fuel oil, which, as a rule, is
delivered by railway to the White Sea ports to be loaded on tankers for direct export or
export via the Murmansk oil loading terminal. The summer of 2003 saw a new oil
transportation route originating from the central parts of Russia by river tankers via inland
waterways for further transshipping in the White Sea. Oil production volumes have also
grown in the Russian part of the Barents region, mainly in The Nenets Autonomous Region
and in the adjusting offshore areas. The first ice-reinforced oil-drilling platform on the
continental shelf of the Barents Sea is to be installed and put into operation in 2004. The
existing system of export pipelines from Western Siberia to Southern and Western Russia
has reached the maximum of its throughput capacity. Some oil producing companies are
planning to build a pipeline, which would connect Western Siberia and Murmansk. The
projected throughput capacity of the new pipeline is to be 100 millions tons of oil a year
and if the building construction proceeds as scheduled the new pipeline will be put into
operation in 2007.
In view of the existing growth figures in oil production and transportation infrastructure
development in 2010 the oil flow by sea can reach a yearly level of 150 million tons, of
which 80 millions will be transported by tankers of 250,000 tons deadweight and the rest is
to be carried by smaller tankers of 100,000 tons deadweight. We can expect 320 runs of
tankers of 250,000 tons deadweight year and 700 runs of 100,000 tons tankers to the west
and south. Accordingly there will be the same number of empty tanker return runs.
In the report one can find a short overview of the prospects in oil production and
transportation volumes from the Russian part of the Barents region including the oil
shipping from the White Sea oil loading terminals, where oil is delivered by railway and
via inland waterways from other Russian territories. The report also provides data of
1
The Barents Euro-Arctic Region was founded in 1993 and include 13 regions: Finnmark, Troms and
Norland in Norway; Norrbotten and Västerbotten in Sweden; Lappland, Oulu and Kajani in Finland;
Murmansk region, Archangelsk region, Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic and Nenets Autonomous Region
in Russia.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
transportation network potential and development plans of future transportation routes. The
special emphasis is given to the present situation. The risk analysis of this and similar
transportation volumes will be given in the report of the Norwegian Coastal Administration
/CNIIMF scheduled to be published in the fall of 2003.
Certain data in this report might differ from those in the Norwegian Coastal
Administration’s report, the latter being based on the input from the Russian partners in
Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. In our report we have based our estimates on information
received from the subjects of Russian Federation2. The report has been discussed with
representatives of Ministry of Nature Resources, regional authorities and transportation
companies. The report also integrates information previously published in Russian and
European mass media.
The report is made upon the request of the Barents Secretariat with financial support of the
Norwegian Polar Institute.
2
Russia is comprised of 89 administrative territorial units; Murmansk region, Republic of Karelia,
Archangelsk region, Nenets Autonomous Region are among them.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
2.
Oil Production in the Nenets Autonomous Region and on the
Continental Shelf
At present transportation of crude oil by sea is being done from two oil loading terminals at
the coast of the Nenets Autonomous Region: one is on Kolguyev island and the other is on
Varandey island. In 2004 the first ice-reinforced offshore drilling platform is planned to put
into operation in the Prilrazlomnoye oil field in the Pechora Sea. The oil production
development data have been integrated into the joint action plans within the framework of
the bilateral Russian-Norwegian cooperation in environmental protection in view of oil
transportation prospects. In 2002 the parties discussed various plans for oil transportation
from the Region’s oil fields.
Figure 1 The Nenets Autonomous Region map. The arrows from left to right (from west to east):
Cape Kanin Nos, Cape Svyatoy Nos, Kolguyev island, Varandey island. The South-Eastern part of
the Barents Sea is traditionally called “the Pechora Sea”.
The Administration of the Nenets Autonomous Region initiated a building construction of
an oil terminal on Cape Svyatoy Nos in the area of the Indiga, accompanied by a pipeline,
which will provide the major oil fields of the Region with transportation facilities
(Vedomosti, June 2001). The chief advantage of the project is that the area of the cape is
free of ice most of the year and it should be more cost efficient than uploading in ice
conditions. According to Aftenposten (Aftenposten, July 2003) there are construction plans
for two oil terminals on Cape Kanin Nos.
The volume of oil production in the Nenets Autonomous Region in 2002 reached 5.1
million tons and in the first two quarters of 2003 – 3.1 million tons (Press Service of the
Nenents AR Administration).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Oil Terminal on Kolguyev island in the Pechora Sea
In 2002 120,000 tons of oil was unloaded from the Peschanozerskii oil terminal
(Norwegian Coast Guards, 2003), in 2003 the estimates are 200,000 tons. In the future oil
flow volumes can grow insignificantly due to the limited capacity of oil field reserves and
weather conditions. Possibilities for all season oil transportation had been tested but the
experiment was stopped last winter because of the heavy ice conditions. Oil is uploaded
onto ice-reinforced tankers of “Astrakhan” type via an underwater pipeline (MBESA, NSC).
The bottom contour around Kolguyev Island is complicated and depth variation differences
are up to 50 meters.
Figure 2. Hydrocarbons reserves on Kolguyev Island
The island has a single settlement of Bugrino in the southern part of the island. Bugrino is
populated by the indigenous people – Nenets, whose only means of living is reindeer
husbandry. Since 2003 the island has been the area for the project of establishing a
protected ethnic and ecological zone within the framework of GEF ECORA. The biological
resources of the island and the adjacent sea areas have not been thoroughly researched yet
but it is known that the island is the breeding ground for a large stock of sea birds and the
adjacent sea areas are used as moulting3 and feeding grounds (Norwegian Polar Institute).
3
Moulting and colour change takes place as a rule in July-August when birds are more vulnerable.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Figure
3.
Pesch
anooz
erskii
termin
al,
2001
Autonomous Region
Vara
ndey
Oil
Term
inal,
the
Nene
ts
The oil terminal, which is being built in Varandey within the framework of the global
transportation project “The Northern Gateway”, has long been the most promising export
facility for oil produced in the area of Timano-Pechora oil fields4. The first oil on Varandey
was uploaded in August 2000, in September 2002 the second section of the Arctic
underwater oil loading complex was put into operation. This allows increasing the oil
loading capacity up to 20 million tons a year. (RIA Novosti – North West, September 2002).
The oil volume loaded on tankers in Varandey in 2002 was 240,000 tons (CNIIMF/NCA,
2003).
The oil terminal development in Varandey has been carried out in stages during the last few
years. The first 10,000 tons of Varandey oil were loaded onto tanker “Volgograd”
(Murmanskii Vestnik, August 2000). In 2000 Murmansk Shipping Company initiated the
conversion of ice breaker “Captain Nikolayev” into a salvage ship for tankers en route in
heavy ice conditions. The ice-reinforced tankers of 20,000 tons deadweight commissioned
by Lukoil company can be loaded via the underwater pipeline four kilometers away from
the shore, although to load heavier tankers of e.g. 80,000 tons of deadweight, a new 12
kilometers long bottom pipeline (siphon) is needed. Varandey oil terminal has no parallel in
the world, it is capable of operating through all the year. The well-tuned mechanisms and
advanced technologies allow loading oil tankers smoothly in summertime though in winter
the operations are hampered by heavy ice conditions despite the provided icebreaker
assistance (MBESA, MSC).
4
The Timano-Pechora gas and oil fields are comprised of oil and gas fields located on the territories of Komi
Republic, the Nenets Autonomous Region and on the continental shelf in the Pechora Sea.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Figure 4 Map of oil fields and the oil terminal in Varandey (DNR NAR).
In 2002 the Murmansk Shipping Company built the second section of the Arctic
underwater oil terminal in Varandey. The underwater installation consists of a solid steel
structure 12 meters in diameter, about 3 meters high with more than 100 tons of weight.
The special mooring unit and the underwater pipeline, which is 4.8 kilometers long, 270
mm in diameter and with the operating pressure of 30 atmospheres, supports uploading rate
of 5,000 tons of oil per hour. The loading system is capable of operating steadily in severe
cold and rough sea conditions with waves as high as 5 meters (Murmanskii Vestnik and
Polyarnaya Pravda, August 2002). The terminal is going to be served by five ice-class
tankers of “Astrakhan” type with deadweight of 20,000 tons; with a proper management the
terminal can upload 20 million tons a year (RIA Novosti – North West). September 25, 2002
the first 20,000 tons of oil was loaded onto tanker “Saratov” via the new facilities of the
terminal. The icebreaker assistance for the offshore loading operation was provided by
icebreaker “Captain Nikolayev” (SeaNews, September 2002). By the end of 2002 the new
terminal uploaded 200,000 tons of oil (Murman State TV and Radio Company, May 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Figure 5.Tanker “Saratov” moored at Varandey terminal (BIC Naryan-Mar October 2002).
In 2003 the projected volume of offloaded oil is set to be at the level of 1.5 million tons of
oil. (NAR Administration, April 2003) and in 2015 the exports to Europe and the USA are
to reach the yearly volume of 12 million tons (CNIIMF/NCA, 2003).
Prirazlomnoye Oil Deposit
Prirazlomnoye oil deposit is the largest among the proven oil deposits on the shelf of the
Pechora Sea. The deposit belongs to the list of the natural resources areas, which are being
developed on the basis of a production share agreement. Primarily the deposit was planned
to be developed by an international consortium with participation of Norway’s Statoil and
Norsk Hydro. At different times the Australian holding BHP and German
Wintershall/BASF took part in the project (Pravda Severa, February 2001). Until 2002 the
license for the deposit belonged to Rosshelf, in November 2002 the Ministry of Natural
Resources re-issued the license to Sevmorneftegas, founded by a conglomerate of
subsidiaries of Rosneft and Gasprom. In 2002 a negotiation commission was formed to
agree upon a production share agreement (www.rosneft.ru). In 2002 Sevmorneftegas
purchased a Norwegian TLP Hutton platform, which operated previously in the Northern
Sea and its upper part was planned to be used as a drilling rig. Sevmashpredpriyatiye in
Severodvinsk is now building the substructure for the platform and setting up the drilling
unit equipment. The Prirazlomnoye platform is planned to be completed and installed on
the location in 2004 (BIC Archangelsk - bulletin, February 2003). It is planned to drill 40
wells, to reach maximum annual production volume of 7.55 million tons in the 5th year of
the field exploration. In total, in the project period of development on production share
agreement terms oil production will account for 74.6 million tons in 22 years
(www.rosneft.ru). The first commercial oil from the Prirazlomnoye deposit is expected in
2005 (Severnyi Orakul, April 2003). The non-stop transshipping operations are planned to
be implemented by shuttle tankers to Murmansk (the Kola Bay or the Pechenga Bay) where
the oil is to be uploaded into a storage tanker for further export (CNIIMF/NCA, 2003). Oil
transportation from Prirazlomnoye and the development service will be provided by Far
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Eastern Marine Company (FEMCO) that is planning to complete the construction of the
transportation and technological system by December 2004. To implement the onsite
development operations FEMCO established a subsidiary, Northern Marine Company in
Archangelsk. (SeaNews Weekly – www.seanews.ru, April 2003). This platform is the first to
do a commercial operation at a location that is in the sea ice up to 6 months a year.
Figure 6. The Pechora Sea oil deposits map, the arrow shows the Prirazlomnoye deposit
(DNR NAR).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
3.
The White Sea Development of Ports Handling the Oil
Transported by Railway and via Inland Waterways
The oil transportation by railway to the White Sea ports with further export shipments
began in summer of 2002 and it has been on steady volume growth ever since. Russia may
boast of well developed infrastructure and experience in transporting energy supplies by
railway tanks and river tankers along inland waterways. When Russia got an opportunity to
increase export volumes it was necessary to develop additional transportation routes and
logistics plans for the northern gateway. The main focus was on the cities in the Russian
part of the Barents Region, which already had railway terminals and sea ports. Today oil
loading terminals are being built or projected in all the cities of the Region with similar
transportation infrastructure. In summer 2003 the White Sea and Baltic Canal, the
waterway leading to the northern Russian ports, was integrated into the oil transportation
network carrying oil to marine terminals for further export delivery. The reconstruction and
modernization of port facilities is going on with the growth of oil flow volumes.
Figure 7. The map shows the key ports on the White Sea, which are already or planned to be
oil export terminals. Arrows from left to right (from west to east) – Vitino, Belomorsk,
Onega, Severodvinsk, Archangelsk.
Hydrocarbons, as a rule crude oil and fuel oil, are delivered via inland transportation routes
from the terminals in Yaroslavl and other Russian cities to the White Sea ports. Practically
all the White Sea ports, which have access to railway network and sufficient harbor depths,
will be involved in oil transshipping and oil export.
With the growing oil transportation infrastructure the railway network and terminals will be
developed because export of hydrocarbons via railway is a new direction in the industry
and the transportation flows will steadily increase in the nearest future. In addition to
transportation by railway there is an opportunity to deliver oil to the White Sea ports from
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
12
Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
other Russian territories by river tankers via inland waterways, in particular along the
White Sea and Baltic Canal.
Oil is delivered by railway to the Port of Vitino near Kandalaksha and the Rosneft terminal
in Talagi. Oil is transported via the White Sea and Baltic Canal and Belomorsk by river
tankers for further transshipping in the Onega Bay, the White Sea. Several oil terminals that
transfer oil cargo from the incoming railway tanks onto sea oil tankers are also being built
in Severodvinsk.
The Port of Vitino in the Kandalaksha Bay, Murmansk Region
The Port of Vitino is the first privately owned sea port in Russia. Created on the basis of
the White Sea Oil Center (Belomorskaya Neftebaza) the port has become an integrated part
of the larger project of export oil transportation from Siberia (IA Regnum Murmansk news –
www.murmannews.ru, February 2003).
Figure 8 The Belomorskaya Neftebaza and the Port of Vitino (www.vitino.ru)
The head quarters of the port are situated in Saint-Petersburg. The terminal itself was built
in 1972-1975 for delivering oil products to customers inside Murmansk region. With the
new investments the port was modernized in 1993 and equipped to transship crude oil from
railway tanks onto sea oil tankers. The first crude oil was uploaded in 1995 onto the Malta
registered “Probitas” tanker.
There are four piers in the harbor: the smallest is able to berth vessels with the draught of
3.5 meters, the other two can handle river tankers of oil-and-ore type with 4 meter draught
and the largest pier can berth sea oil tankers with up to 13.7 meters draught. In 1993 the
port of Vitino received a license to load oil tankers in summertime; testing loading
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
13
Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
operations were carried out in 2001 and in 2002 the port was authorized to transship oil
around the calendar.
The port of Vitino is transshipping crude oil mostly for Yukos Oil Company. The oil is
delivered to the terminals by railway from Yaroslavl. In 2003 it is projected to export 3.5
million tons of oil via the Port facilities. The Port can handle hydrocarbons for storage and
transshipping, unloading it from both railway tanks and ore-oil carriers. At present the
monthly oil transshipping capacity of the port is: 140,000 tons of crude oil; 100,000 tons of
fuel oil; and 120,000 tons of NGL. The port can simultaneously handle one sea and two
river tankers. With further modernization of the transshipping unit it would be able to serve
two sea tankers simultaneously; the yearly loading volumes of oil can reach 6 million tons
(Arctic Marine Inspection; The sea port of Vitino– www.vitino.ru).
During the ice-free season in Vitino oil is uploaded onto tankers of 70,000 tons deadweight
heading for Europe. In wintertime oil is loaded onto reinforced ice-class tankers of 20,000
tons deadweight delivering the cargo to tankers of 150,000 tons deadweight in the Kola bay
(MBESA; CNIIMF/NCA, 2003). In 2002 the Ministry of Transport of The Russian
Federation initiated “The Northern Bridge” project, which presupposes development of
transportation system on the Northern Sea Route with a focus on the Western markets.
Development of the oil transshipping complex in the port of Vitino is a part of this project
(IA Regnum – www.regnum.ru, November 2002).
The oil terminal in Vitino and the main fairway are located in the close vicinity of the
Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve that was founded in 1930 and its major territory extends
over most of the islands and the water area of the Kandalaksha bay. Considering the heavy
ice and weather conditions in the area one should pay special attention to ensuring
ecological safety while developing the oil transshipping complex (Arctic Marine
Inspection).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Figure 9. Cargo shipping and transportation routes in the port of Vitino (www.vitino.ru)
Oil Transportation by River Tankers
The sea port of Vitino is connected to oil suppliers in Yaroslavl, Nizhni Novgorod,
Nizhnekamsk, Perm, Ufa and Syzran by inland waterways. Oil cargo from these cities can
be delivered by ore-oil carriers (www.vitino.ru).
The White Sea and Baltic Canal was not involved in export oil transportation until summer
of 2003. In order to increase the transit capacity of the Volga-Baltic Route and the White
Sea and Baltic Canal, in particular, Volgatanker Company, the major carrier of oil by seaand-river ships, in 2003 started a project “The White Sea” (www.morvesti.ru). In April
2003 the project was discussed at the meeting of the coordinating council of North-West
Association, and it was announced that oil cargo delivery would be arranged via the White
Sea and Baltic Canal for further offshore loading onto collector tankers. During the summer
of 2003 the amount of 800,000 tons of oil was planned to be transported by 30 tankers of
ore-oil type and in 2004 the transportation volume should grow up to 1.5 million tons (The
Northern Courier, April 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
15
Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Offloading Oil from River Tankers in the Onega Bay
While working out “The White Sea” project, in which the White Sea and Baltic Canal is
directly involved, different offshore transshipping modes were considered. One possibility
was to build an oil terminal in Belomorsk and an offshore transshipping unit to the east of
the Solovetski islands. Finally Volgatanker worked out a plan of building a sea oil loading
terminal in the Onega Bay. The main idea is to anchor a collector tanker of 100,000 tons
deadweight in the area of Tonkaya Osinka island. In summertime 3,000 tons deadweight
river tankers will deliver oil products to the collector tanker via inland waterways. Further
on, the oil will be exported by a sea tanker of 80,000 tons deadweight (The Moryak Severa,
June 2003).
During the summer of 2003 800,000 tons of oil was planned to be transported through the
sea oil reloading terminal in the Onega Bay, in 2004 the volume should reach 1.5 million
tons of oil. To implement the shipment from Yaroslavl through the White Sea and Baltic
Canal Volgatanker planned to gather 29 oil-and-ore vessels of river-and-sea type with
2,700 tons of deadweight and 3.8 meters draught. The summer navigation season for the oil
loading unit is from May 25th till October 1st. The environmental protection plan for the
project was designed by NordEco-Eurasia Company (Novosti Parokhodstva –
www.morvesti.ru, March 2003).
Figure 10. The Onega Bay, the White Sea.
The leading vessel of the oil-and-ore “Nefterudovoz” type with tanks for oil and oil-related
products along the boards and a dry cargo hold in the center was built in 1968 and since
1971 the vessels produced were modernized motor ships. All in all until 1992 there were
built 60 ships of this type, one of them was put out of service in 1990 (www.riverships.ru).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
The White Sea and Baltic Canal with its 19 locks connecting Lake Onego and the White
Sea was built in 1933 and for a long time was the main waterway for commercial and other
cargo to the northern regions. At present the Canal requires a reconstruction plan, which
should integrate an assessment of the Canal’s impact on water and wetland ecosystems of
Karelia, especially in view of the growing cargo flows in the area.
In its turn the plan of anchoring a collector tanker in the Onega Bay, the mooring system,
oil spill prevention and oil spill response management with offshore loading operations,
especially in heavy weather conditions in the area of numerous small islands, seem
unreliable and hardly satisfies the safety requirements (ASMI, NSC, April 2003).
In 2003 it was decided to transship oil via 30,000 tons deadweight transport-tankers in
order to test the projected transit sequence of oil delivery, loading procedures and piloting
of sea tankers. The piloting assistance in the area of the offshore loading terminal, during
operations and vessel registration is provided by the Onega Commercial Sea Port, which
commissions one or two tugs of the Archangelsk commercial port for docking the tankers.
(IA Regnum Archangelsk news – www.arnews.ru).
Photo by Alexei Bambulyak
Figure 11. An oil-and-ore tanker ”Nefterudovoz” in the White Sea and Baltic Canal between
locks 16 and 17 near Belomorsk, July 2003.
The opening of the oil transshipping terminal had originally been planned to take place on
June 1st, 2003 but later the date was changed. (Moryak severa, June 2003). The terminal
was put into operation on June 24th, 2003; the first river tankers, “Nefterudovoz-24” and
“Nefterudovoz-38”, delivered 2,700 tons of fuel oil each to “Zoya-1” sea tanker of the
Latvian Shipping Company. (IA Regnum Archangelskie Novosti – www.arnews.ru, June
2003). On June 30th “Zoya-1” tanker with 27,000 tons of fuel oil left the Onega port and
headed for Rotterdam. Till the end of the summer navigation season of 2003 300-400
thousand tons of oil products are planned to be exported via the Onega oil terminal
(SeaNews Weekly – www.seanews.ru, June 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
With a success of the transit sequence operation oil export volumes via the White Sea and
Baltic Canal are to be increased and oil could be delivered by river tankers for
transshipping at the oil terminals in the Onega Bay and the Port of Vitino.
The Commercial Sea Port Development in Severodvinsk, Archangelsk
Region
In Norway Severodvinsk is known as a city with one of the largest shipyards of the Russian
nuclear submarine fleet. Now the military shipyards are producing commercial tankers and
oil rigs.
In 1996 the Decree “On creation of industrial and production complex for the Arctic
continental shelf oil deposits development” was issued and by which the Government was
assigned to build a commercial sea port and an oil loading terminal in Severodvinsk with
the help of private investments (Neftegazovaya vertikal - www.ngv.ru).
In 2002 the Russian Ministry of Defense agreed with the Administration of Severodvinsk
to hand over to the city a part of the sea port belonging to the Belomorsk Naval Base as a
construction site for an oil loading terminal. The space assigned for the construction site is
4.4 hectares adjacent to the territory of Severmashpredpriyatie company. The Northern
Shipping Company was supposed to take part in the project (Prime-TASS, July 2002).
In 2003 the Belomorsk Naval Base signed a protocol of intentions for a joint venture with
Tatneft Oil Company of building in Severodvinsk an oil terminal (Severnaya Nedelya,
April 2003).
Lukoil company is researching oil transportation possibilities through Archangelsk region
and in particular a possibility of building an oil terminal in Severodvinsk (Interfax, June
2003).
Oil Terminal in Talagi, Archangelsk Region
The Archangelsk Oil Center (Archangelskaya Neftebaza) in Talagi is the largest one in
Archangelsk region. The owner of the company is Rosneft-Archangelsknefteprodukt.
In 2001 the Archangelskaya Neftebaza signed contracts for oil exports with Lukoil, Tatneft
and Sibneft oil companies. In November the company signed with a Swedish company Van
Ommeren a contract according to which the Archangelsk company was to load three - four
tankers of 22,000 tons deadweight with export oil. The first tanker “Weichselstern”
delivered to Rotterdam the first 21,000 tons of fuel oil belonging to Tatneft Company. The
reservoir park of the tank farm in 2002 was able to store 800 tons of light petroleum,
64,000 tons of diesel fuel and 35,000 tons of fuel oil. The maximum daily intake could
reach 7.2 thousand tons of light petroleum products and 3.6 thousand tons of fuel oil. The
loading capacity of the terminal was 800 tons of light petroleum products and 400 tons of
heavy petroleum products per hour. The terminal can berth tankers of up to 30,000 tons
deadweight (SeaNews Weekly – www.seanews.ru, November 2001). In 2002 Talagi
terminal served 191 tankers, of which 100 were carrying 1.93 million tons of export oil
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
products to the West (ATK-Media – www.atkmedia.ru, January 2003; CNIIMF/NCA,
2003).
The transit operations are on around the calendar using tankers of 25,000 tons deadweight;
during the winter season some tankers ran aground in the inner harbor while exiting the
terminal (NSC, 2003).
In June 2002 Rosneft-Severnefteservis Company began to dredge the main channel leading
to the Archangelskaya Neftebaza. The insufficient depth of the channel, which had not
been swept for six years, forced tankers of 20,000 tons deadweight to run underloaded (IA
Regnum – www.regnum.ru, July 2002).
In 2003 Rosneft invested 336 million rubles into large scale modernization of the terminal.
First of all, it is planned to increase the capacity of oil-loading racks. At the moment the
two racks provide simultaneous drain of 60 oil tank cars. After the modernization is
completed the tank farm can handle 108 tank cars simultaneously. Four new storage tanks
will be put into operation: two 40,000 cubic meters tanks and two 10,000 cubic meters
tanks. One part of the tank farm is planned to be converted into the storage for crude oil,
which will start arriving in Archangelsk as early as autumn of 2003. The channel dredge
shall reach the second pier of the tank farm and it will allow the terminal to berth two
tankers simultaneously. Upon the completion of the projected work the Archangelskaya
Neftebaza will be able to upload 400 thousand tons of oil and oil products for export
monthly (IA Regnum Archangelsk News – www.arnews.ru, April 2003).
The oil produced in the Timano-Pechora oil fields is planned to be transported to the south
of Archangelsk region by a pipeline. There, at Privodino railway terminal, the oil will be
uploaded into railway tank cars and sent to Archangelsk. From Archangelsk reinforced iceclass tankers of 17-18 thousand tons deadweight will deliver the crude oil to a 300,000 tons
deadweight collector tanker anchored in the Kola Bay. As the stored volume grows tankers
of 100-150 thousand tons deadweight incoming from the West will carry the TimanoPechora export oil further to the Western market (IA Regnum Archangelsk News –
www.arnews.ru, April 2003).
Totally in 2003 the Talagi terminal is expected to offload 2.2 million tons of export crude
oil (while its simultaneous handling of light petroleum products will be on the level of 2
million tons). Upon the completion of the reconstruction maximum volumes should jump
up to 4 million tons per year. The total turnover of oil related products is projected to reach
6 million tons a year (SeaNews Weekly – www.seanews.ru, June 2003).
Privodino – a New Terminal in the South of Archangelsk Region
The oil terminal in Privodino, at 40 km away from Kotlas, Archangelsk region, was built in
1974. Privodino terminal is operating along the Uhta-Yaroslavl section of the Transneft
main trunk line. It carries the Timano-Pechora oil for refining and further transportation
(Pravda Severa, June 2001).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Now Privodino is an important link in carrying out a plan of Rosneft to send the oil flow
through Archangelsk region. In 2003 Rosneft has made plans to start building a 23 million
USD worth railway terminal with a yearly throughput capacity of 4 million tons of crude
oil. The terminal is planned to be completed by June 1st, 2004. The railway line between
the terminals of Privodino and Talagi will be served by 700 railway oil tanks, the number
of which by 2005 should reach 1500. Three ice-class “Samotlor” tankers will ship oil from
Archangelsk to a collector-tanker in the Kola Bay, whence oil will be carried away for
export (SeaNews Weekly - www.seanews.ru, June 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
4.
The Offshore Transshipping Terminal in the Kola Bay,
Murmansk Region
The offshore oil transshipping terminal is located in the Kola Bay in close proximity of the
city of Murmansk and can be seen from the mountain with a famous WWII monument,
nicknamed “Aliosha”. The terminal was designed, approved and built on contract with the
Murmansk Shipping Company within the period from November, 2002 till May, 2003.
The terminal is comprised of 9 anchor-mooring systems (anchors, bridle cables, buoys)
allowing to berth and safely position seagoing tankers with up to 150 thousand tons
deadweight in strong wind conditions (up to 20 m/s). Shuttle tankers of 15-60 thousand
tons deadweight are able to go alongside with heavier seagoing tankers for oil transfer. The
terminal operates around the clock. The yearly throughput capacity is 5.4 million tons of
oil. Slick bars and MBESA salvage ships are stationed in the Kola Bay to prevent and
respond to possible oil spills during loading operations. The terminal is situated in the wind
protected harbor where waves are never higher than 1.5 meters. It is designed to transship
crude oil delivered for export by Yukos oil company (RZD-partner - www.rzd-partner.ru,
May 2003).
The first oil was exported from the Kola Bay in November 2002. “Moskva” tanker with
100,000 tons deadweight was loaded with Yukos-produced oil, which was delivered from
the port of Vitino by reinforced ice-class tankers “Georgii Kononovitch”, “Kaliningrad”,
“Usinsk”, “Magas” (IA Au-92 - www.au92.ru, Novemeber 2002). On February 21st the
millionth ton of export oil was uploaded in the Kola Bay (Murman State TV and Radio
Company, February 2003).
Ice assistance in the White Sea in wintertime is provided by diesel-electric icebreaker
“Captain Nikolayev” and nuclear icebreaker “Rossia”, which are in trust management of
Murmansk Shipping Company (Neft Rossii – press.lukoil.ru, February 2003). The VitinoMurmansk route is served by 6 reinforced ice-class tankers. On the whole Lukoil
commissioned to build 10 “Astrakhan” type tankers with about 20,000 tons deadweight.
These are modern double-hulled tankers of UL A1 class, which can break ice 0.5–1 meter
thick without icebreaker assistance. Five of them were built in Germany, the other five
were built in Saint-Petersburg (CNIIMF/NCA; Lukoil – www.lukoil.com, 2003).
The sea port of Murmansk is ice-free and the Kola Bay is rarely covered with ice but ice
may drift from the rivers opening into the Bay.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Photo by Bjørn Frantzen
Figure 12. Ice-class tanker “Usinsk” at the terminal in the Kola Bay, March 2003.
In 2002 700,000 tons of oil was exported from the Kola Bay. Now the annual throughput
capacity of the terminal is 5.4 million tons of oil.
The Murmansk Shipping Company is considering a plan of building another oil terminal in
the Kola Bay in the area of Belokamenka (IA Regnum VolgaInform– www.volgainform.ru,
March 2003). Rosneft is planning to station a collector tanker of 300,000 tons deadweight
in the Kola Bay for transshipping oil delivered to the region from Archangelsk (IA Regnum
Murmansk News – www.murmannews.ru, April 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
5.
Western Siberia – Murmansk Pipeline Project
In November, 2002 four largest Russian oil companies Lukoil, Yukos, TNK and Sibneft
signed “Memorandum of Mutual Understanding” on development of oil pipeline system
via the sea bulk-oil terminal in the area of Murmansk (www.yukos.ru), later Surgutneftegas
joined the consortium.
The project of Murmansk pipeline system is the first joint project of the area of transporting
hydrocarbonates raw materials, which is being carried out by the nation'
s largest oil
companies. The declaration of intentions was planned to be finished in April, 2003. The
development of the investment plan, the feasibility report of building construction and
documentation will be completed in the span of 2003-2004. The building construction is
planned to be commenced in 2004 and to be completed in 2007 when it will be put into
operation. The yearly oil flow volume of the Western Siberia- Murmansk oil pipeline is
expected to be 80 million tons. The main portion of the oil will go to customers in Western
Europe and North America. The consortium members considered two routes for the
projected pipeline: one was Western Siberia-Uhta-Murmansk and 3600 km long and the
other one was Western Siberia-Usa-Murmansk (via the White Sea) 2500 km. Preliminarily,
the total cost of the project depending on a route of the pipeline is worth from 4.5 billion up
to 3.4 billion. US Dollars (IA Regnum - www.regnum.ru, November 2002).
In January, 2003 it became known that Lukoil, Yukos, TNK, Sibneft, Surgutneftegas
commissioned Starstroi company to design a pipeline and a bulk-oil terminal in one of the
harbors of the Kola Peninsula. According to the specifications the total transshipping
volume of the oil complex should gradually grow and reach the point of 120 million tons
per year (IA Regnum Murmansk News – www.murmannews.ru, January 2003).
Also in January the Government of RF confirmed that all newly built oil and gas pipelines
shall belong to the state but the matter of private investments may help in selecting
companies for favorable use of the pipelines in the future (Pravda.Ru – www.pravda.ru,
January 2003). Transneft, the nation’s only contractor in building and servicing main trunk
lines in Russia, publicly noted in return that the pipeline Western Siberia-Timano-PechoraMurmansk may not need participation of the above named oil companies and could be built
mostly on loans and private investments (IA Rosbalt – www.rosbalt.ru, February 2003).
The Russian Ministry of Energy believes that a Murmansk heading pipeline must take its
beginning in the area of Nadym. The pipeline is suggested to follow the following
checkpoints: Nadym – Salehard – the region of Obsko-Tazovskaya Guba – Inta – Ukhta –
Belomorsk – Murmansk. The length is to be 3200 km. The Ministry considers the
reasonable volume for the pipeline to be 50 million tons per year with further growth up to
90 million tons (Neft Rossii – press.lukoil.ru, March 2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Figure 13. The map showing the existing main trunk lines in Central and Northern Russia
used for European exports (www.transneft.ru).
The significance of the northern oil export channel becomes greater with the growing
complexity of restrictions imposed on supertanker passing the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea
straits and in view of the overloaded existing pipeline systems and railway network
(www.yukos.ru). Shipping oil via the Black and the Baltic Seas requires passing through
narrow straits, besides the Gulf of Finland is covered by ice 4-5 months a year, which
results in problems for most of tanker types at loading and seafaring. From the Kola Bay
heavy tankers may easily reach international waters without facing such obstacles as ice,
shallow waters and narrow straits. Though in turn heavy tankers of 250,000 tons
deadweight and more will affect the civil and military traffic schedules in the Bay.
The Russian Government has made a priority list for oil export development. The project of
Western Siberia-Murmansk pipeline is given the fourth priority in the list after the Baltic
pipeline system development, management improvements and reconstruction of pumping
systems and the Angarsk pipeline construction (RusEnergy – www.rusenergy.com, July
2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
6.
Oil Transport from other Russian Territories
The largest oil and gas deposits are situated in Western Siberia, to the east from the Ural
Mountains dividing Europe and Asia. The transportation of hydrocarbones from these
deposits is carried out, basically, by main trunk lines in southern and western directions.
The certain portion of oil is delivered by rail and inland waterways. The opportunity of
transporting oil and NGL from northern regions of Western Siberia, the Yamal peninsula
and the Bay of Ob to the west through the Kara sea, the Barents sea and further along the
Norwegian coast is being under consideration now. The river Ob and the Kara Sea are
covered with ice most part of the year and as a result one is forced to use reinforced ice
class tankers with icebreaker assistance for regular oil shipments.
Oil Transportation in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region
The Yamal Peninsula and the Bay of Ob are washed by the Kara Sea. They located to the
north from the major oil and gas deposits of Western Siberia. Oil extraction on the Yamal
peninsula has already led to confrontation between the local population of indigenous
people and oil companies.
Figure 14. Map of the Yamal Peninsula and the Bay of Ob (Kharasavey is situated in the
western part of Yamal).
Oil shipments from the Bay of Ob have been carried out since 1999 (NSC). Gazprom and
Lukoil plan to build a sea terminal and a liquefication plant in the area of Kharasavey. The
Ministry of Transport in cooperation with Gazprom and Lukoil plan to develop railway
network on the peninsula. (FBK – www.fbk.ru, May 2003). There is also a private pipeline
being built in the Bay of Ob with throughput capacity of 3 million tons per year (NSC).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
Oil Transportation via the Baltic Sea
The new transportation route – the Baltic pipeline system, which includes a sea port in
Primorsk and a main trunk line leading to it, was opened in December, 2001. In 2002 the
terminal in Primorsk reached the projected capacity of 12 million tons. Further on the
throughput capacity of the terminal is planned to be gradually increased – first, up to 18
million tons and then up to 30 million tons of oil a year. Transneft is planning to make
Primorsk the largest oil export port in Russia (www.primorsk.ru). According to the
forecasts made by Baltic Pipelines (Baltiiskiye Nefteprovody) company the overall
capacity of the Baltic pipeline system and the sea terminal in Primorsk in the future may
reach 50 million tons of crude oil per year (Logistic.Ru – www.logistic.ru, July 2002).
From the moment when the pipeline and the sea terminal in Primorsk were put into
operation deliveries of crude oil to Ventspils, Latvia had been falling and after January 1,
2003 oil shipments in this direction were completely terminated (www.primorsk.ru).
Figure 15.Map of oil terminals in the Baltic States and Russia (www.rusenergy.com)
Today in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea there are 11 oil loading terminals, a larger one
in Finland with the capacity of 10 million tons of oil (Russian exports) per year, one in
Estonia, four in Latvia and two in Lithuania. In addition two terminals are being built in
Russia and one in Estonia.
The Russian Government declared its ambitions to develop the transportation infrastructure
and to use Russian terminals for oil exports avoiding the use of ports in the Baltic States.
The volume of oil shipments via the Russian part of the Baltic Sea is expected to reach 40
million tons and can double in 2005 reaching 80 million tons a year (Lloyd’s List, May
2003).
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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Oil Transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region
The Finnish officials demand a guarantee of safety while transporting oil and claim the
requirements at the moment do not correspond with the international criteria. Last winter
the ice cover reached the thickness of 80 cm; this resulted in real difficulties for passing
tankers. New bulk-oil terminals in Russia are being built according to high safety standards
used in the world’s oil industry. They also should be operated according to all requirements
of safety, oil spill prevention and response with the help of most advanced technologies.
VTMIS (vessel traffic management and information service system) is to be installed in the
region in June, 2004. The system is already operating in the port of Primorsk. During the
joint meeting of IMO/Helcom/EU in Warnemunde, Germany, in March, 2003 it was
proposed to take the following measures:
• unification of rules for winter traffic, ice classification and icebreaker service
arrangements;
• investigating the possibility of establishing a deepwater route in the whole Baltic
Sea area for ships posing a risk to the marine environment;
• establishing escort towing and compulsory pilotage in special high risk areas;
• phasing out the use of single-hull tankers carrying the heaviest grades of oil;
• introducing measures to reduce the effects of ballast water discharges;
• investigate the feasibility of designating the whole Baltic Sea, or parts of it, as a
particular sensitive sea area;
• further co-operation in ensuring adequate emergency and recovery capacity;
• further promotion of the designation of places of refuge.
(Lloyd’s List, May 2003).
The oil is transported by the Baltic Sea via Kategatt and the increase in oil traffic can have
a negative ecological impact on Southern Norway in case of oil spill accident during
passing through a narrow strait or the Strait of Skagerack in the Norwegian Sea. When in
addition to the existing ones the projected and finished Baltic terminals will be put into
operation the oil traffic in the area can reach 100 million tons per year. Approximately the
same export oil traffic is expected from the northern direction in the Russian part of the
Barents Sea. The Baltic direction is disadvantaged compared to the Barents one – the Baltic
Sea is a closed system with a single passage through Kategatt. In the future the tanker
traffic will increase, although at the moment the frequency of tankers passing through
Kategatt is very high and there is always a possibility of an accident. The consequences of
the Chinese oil tanker accident near Denmark’s coastline in May, 2003 were obvious all
along the popular seaside resort of Skåne despite the advanced oil spill prevention
equipment and the relatively favorable weather conditions of the inland sea.
Bjørn Frantzen and Alexei Bambulyak, Svanhovd Environmental Centre (www.svanhovd.no)
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